Grand View Health doctors completed the first commercial implant of the BIOTRONIK Eluna ProMRI® pacemaker system in Pennsylvania, which was just approved for use in full-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans by the FDA in March 2015.

        Millions of patients are presently implanted with pacemaker systems across the world, while more and more are receiving pacemaker implants each year. Until recently, most patients with a pacemaker were denied MRI scans due to concern that the strong magnetic fields and radio waves created by the MRI could have a negative effect on both the implanted device and the patient.

        "MRIs are the gold standard for soft tissue diagnostics and tens of millions of scans are conducted annually in the U.S., making it an extremely important diagnostic tool that has proven clinical benefits," said Lewis M. Gill, M.D., the chairman of the Department of Surgery at Grand View Surgical Associates who placed the pacemaker. "The likelihood that pacemaker patients will require an MRI at some point in their life increases with the aging population and this technology allows our patients to continue to receive the top-quality care that they have come to expect in our community."

        The Eluna ProMRI system is accompanied by automatic, daily remote monitoring which allows Grand View physicians to efficiently deliver the highest level of care by managing their patients' status through early detection of cardiovascular events.